Here you will find nonsense about thrifting, vintage, wandering, my adventures in antique mall reselling, and St Louis. And various other nonsense, as my whims take me.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

This little piggy...

This little star-burst Formica topped wooden piggy is an oddly adorable purchase I picked up for $.50 at an estate sale a couple of months ago:

I had never seen anything like it before, and thought maybe it was fashioned by an extraordinarily thrifty/crafty person upon the death of an old table or counter top or something, but less than a week later, I stumbled across one that was nearly identical in the Value Village thrift store on North Lindbergh. The shape was the same, and it had the same kind of little black eye on it, although the Formica surface was a different pattern (and far more scratched/scuffed up). I passed up the chance at a twin for my star-burst piggy, but it made me curious, and good ol' Google tells me that Formica piggies were apparently a thing, back in the day. Right this very moment on Etsy there are 5 Formica piggies listed (although one of them is shaped more like an anteater or an armadillo or something, in my opinion). It's an interesting phenomenon, isn't it? How you can come across something you've never seen before, or at least never noticed before, and suddenly, once you've noticed whatever thing it might be, you see that thing everywhere. I like to think of it in Harry Potter/Doctor Who terms: before that estate sale, there was a perception filter that prevented me from seeing Formica piggies, but once I noticed one, now I can see them all!

A similar thing has happened to me lately with vintage carafes. I spotted a cool one with it's own little stand/warmer for a song at a thrift store, and since then two more with fun star-burst patterns (like the pig!) have followed me home:

I think if I was there to get my thrift on, I could probably spot the entrance to Diagon Alley!